Redbridge 11 Plus Moving From Abroad: 2027 Entry Rules

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Leading Tuition is an online 11+ tuition service that prepares children abroad for the Redbridge 11+, the test for Woodford County High School for Girls and Ilford County High School for Boys. Redbridge’s arrangements place children living outside the common catchment area in the last priority group and require applicants to be advised that only children living inside it have been admitted to either school in the last 10 years. Registration for 2027 entry closed on 15 June 2026.

Which priority group does a child living abroad fall into?

Redbridge runs one test and one admissions order for both grammar schools. After looked-after children and a pupil premium group, its arrangements for September 2027 rank “other children living in the Common Catchment Area” and then “children living outside the Common Catchment Area”, each group by standardised score. A family that gives an address abroad has given an address outside the area, so on that address its child falls in the second group. Whether Redbridge will rank a child on an intended address instead is a separate question, taken up in the next section. The arrangements are blunt about the order: “If parents live outside the Common Catchment Area, consideration for a place at one of these schools will be given after all the requests from those within the Common Catchment Area have been met.”

They also tell the council what to say to applicants: “Advice shall be provided to applicants to explain that only children who live in the Common Catchment Area have been admitted to the grammar schools in the last 10 years.” Both schools say the same in their own words. Woodford County High School’s admissions page reads: “Places are only awarded out of the catchment area if there are not enough students within the common catchment area who have applied for places. In practice, no places are ever awarded out of the catchment area.” Ilford County High School states that “All admissions are based on the London Borough of Redbridge 11+ examination and living in the catchment area” and lists “Children living outside the common catchment area” as its last oversubscription category.

Two published facts then sit side by side, and this page does not turn them into a rule. The council’s registration page, under “Things to think about before registering”, says: “Your child needs to live in the blue lined area on the map.” It repeats the instruction at the registration step: “Make sure your child lives in the common catchment area.” The council’s statistics on pupils who sat the test for September 2026 entry, the latest it has published, count 2,062 candidates, 1,679 living inside the Common Catchment Area and 383 outside it; its columns for Ilford County High School and Woodford County High School show 184 of 998 and 199 of 1,064 outside the area. A family abroad that wants to know which of the two applies to its child should put the question to the Redbridge Admissions team in writing before the registration window opens.

The Department for Education’s guidance on applications from outside England sets out when an overseas address can count against a child. It applies where “a parent is unable to provide evidence of a return to the area”. In that case admission authorities “could apply a catchment area policy or distance tie-break, if they have such admission criteria”, using “the parents’ place of residence at the point the application is made”, and “If this is in another country, it might give the child a lower priority for admission if the admission authority operates a catchment area or if the child is tied for the final place available with other applicants.” The guidance was last updated on 28 March 2024.

Redbridge also publishes where its offers stopped. Its allocation notice for 2 March 2026 gives, for each school, the score of the last on-time candidate from within the common catchment area to be offered a place, together with the five years before.

Source: Redbridge Council, “Allocation of Secondary School Places on 2 March 2026”, last on-time candidate from within the common catchment area offered a place; earlier years are as of national offer day.

For September 2027 entry Redbridge sets a minimum threshold score of 104 for the ranked list. In each of the six years above, the last in-area child offered a place scored higher than that, and at Ilford County High in 2026 the figure was 106.02. A child ranked in the outside-area group is considered only after every in-area request has been met, however high that child scores. Redbridge’s figures for the children who sat the test at each school are set out in our Woodford County High catchment guide and our Ilford County High catchment guide; our pages for each school are Woodford County High School 11+ preparation and Ilford County High School 11+ preparation.

What counts as an address when the family is still overseas?

Redbridge asks for proof of residence before it makes an offer: “To get an offer from one of our schools you need to provide proof that you live in Redbridge.” Woodford County High School’s admissions page says registration for the test needs “proof of address and proof of date of birth”. The arrangements require “at least two documentary proofs” and make one of them mandatory, the council tax bill. The others are a rent book, a tenancy agreement, a utility bill dated within three months of the application, a TV Licence or a UK Driving Licence.

Redbridge’s application page lists what it will not accept: “business addresses”, “a landlord’s or tenant’s address”, “a childminder’s address”, “future addresses” and “second homes with short-term leases”. The arrangements word the exclusion as “nor will future addresses be accepted (except in exceptional circumstances)”, and say the address “must be the one where the child normally lives, on the closing date for your application, and is expected to live in September 2027 and beyond”. They add that proof of residence “will be requested” and that “an offer may be withdrawn if proof cannot be provided”. For 2027 entry the closing date is 31 October 2026. Whether a Redbridge property that the family owns but does not live in falls within that list is a question for the Redbridge Admissions team: put that case to them in writing, with the facts of how the property is used, before the registration window opens, and keep the reply.

For a family abroad the arrangements contain a rule written for its situation. Note 11 says: “If an application is made from another country, the Admission Authority will consider the application as adequate proof of an intention to move/return to the area and include it within the co-ordinated process.” The government guidance says the same of local authorities. The evidence Redbridge lists of an intention to return is a mortgage or rental agreement for a property in the area, deeds for a property in the area, a letter from an employer showing a transfer date to the area, or registration with a local GP. Note 11 also covers a family that cannot show a return: “If a parent is unable to provide evidence of a return to the area before the new school year for applications in the normal admissions round or by the start of the next term for in-year applications, the parent’s place a [sic] of residence at the point the application is made will be used for allocating priority based on the distance criterion.” The notes apply to all community schools. For the two grammar schools, standardised score ranks children within each group (paragraph 2.13) and distance only breaks a tie between equal scores (paragraph 2.14), so no address or distance stands in for the test result. For an application from abroad Redbridge also adds a check: it “will ask for evidence before the school year or term begins, to confirm that the child now lives in the area”. In its words: “If the child does not attend school on the first day of term, the Admission Authority can remove the offer and allocate the place to a child on the waiting list, after the parent has been contacted to ascertain the situation.”

Three Redbridge statements therefore bear on a family that holds a tenancy in the area but still lives abroad: the registration page (“needs to live in the blue lined area”), Note 4 (future addresses are not accepted except in exceptional circumstances) and Note 11 (a rental agreement is listed as evidence of an intention to return). Woodford County High School’s Join Us page says that “all matters relating to admissions in Year 7 – 11 are handled by the Redbridge Admissions Office”. Before the registration window opens, put the question to that office in writing: which address will be accepted at registration for a child whose family has signed a tenancy in the area but still lives abroad? Keep the reply with the tenancy papers.

Note 10 sets a separate rule for “families of service personnel with a confirmed posting in Redbridge or crown servants returning from overseas to live in the area”: “a place will be allocated in advance of the family arriving in the area, provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a relocation date.” For these families the council must use the address at which the child will live, “as long as the parents provide some evidence of their intended address”, and a Unit or quartering address where a parent requests it. Grammar entry still runs through the selection procedure: the arrangements say admission to the two grammar schools “is based on the optional selection procedure only”, and that applicants “will be required to register for the tests”.

Immigration status is a separate check, and it sits with the parent. Note 11 says: “It is the responsibility of parents to check that their children have a right, under their visa entry conditions, to study at a Redbridge school, and that they have the right of abode, or the conditions of their visas otherwise permit them to access a state funded school.” The government guidance adds that unaccompanied children entering on a Child Student or Student visa “cannot lawfully, under their UK entry conditions, study at a state-funded school”.

Where does the child have to be, and on which dates?

Redbridge’s page says: “You must register for the test when your child is in Year 5. It takes place in Year 6, when children are around 10 or 11 years old.” The dates below are Redbridge’s for September 2027 entry. The arrangements describe the registration window in general terms as “usually between 1 May to 15 June, or thereabouts”, which is the only guide to any later year that this page offers.

Source: Redbridge Council, Redbridge 11 plus and Redbridge determined admission arrangements for 2027-28 (PDF, 17 pages), retrieved 3 October 2026.

The invitation letter gives the “time and location of the test”, and Redbridge’s travel notice says: “No parking will be available at either school site unless you have a valid disabled badge.” At the test the child needs the completed photo ID form: “Without it, your child cannot take the test.” Registration also needs evidence of the child’s date of birth “to ensure the test can be applied appropriately”. The test page speaks of school years, Year 5 to register and Year 6 to sit; the council’s secondary application page speaks of birth dates: “Use this application process if you live in Redbridge and your child was born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016.” A family abroad should confirm with the Redbridge Admissions team which cohort the child belongs to, giving the date of birth and the overseas school year.

Redbridge’s rules on missing the date are narrow. A child who registered on time but could not sit on the published date can be tested late only “on the provision of a doctor’s certificate or proof of why the child could not sit on the original dates provided i.e. religious observance”. A child who clashes with another grammar test is not offered a second date: “we can’t offer a different test date if they miss it because they are taking another entrance test on the same day”. The council says individual grammar schools or grammar school groups may schedule tests on the same day, and that “Most set their tests in the first two or three weeks of September”. A family weighing several areas from abroad should set Redbridge’s Friday beside every other area’s date before it books flights.

Registering is not applying. The arrangements say: “Completion of the Registration Form alone is not accepted as an application.” Every applicant must also complete the Common Application Form online, and the form’s address rules are the ones in the previous section. The council’s Redbridge 11 plus page and catchment map are the places to check before any date is committed.

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What is left if the registration window has already closed?

The arrangements close the first door in plain words: “No late registrations will be accepted.” They add that for applicants “who do not register for testing within the publicised registration deadline but then submit on-time preferences naming a selective school, no testing arrangements will be made.”

The 2027-28 arrangements, which apply from September 2027, also set an in-year waiting list, with a condition. Section 3.6 says that at the two grammar schools “children are not considered for entry into Years 10 or 11”, and that “If there is a vacancy in Years 7, 8 and 9, a waiting list will be maintained of applicants who have attained the minimum threshold score.” The 2026-27 arrangements, which cover a move during the current school year, add a sentence before that one: “If there is a vacancy in Years 7, 8 and 9, late applicants will be tested.” That score is 104, so the list is for applicants who have reached it, and paragraph 2.8, quoted above, makes no testing arrangements for a child who did not register. A family whose child was not tested should ask the Redbridge Admissions team, in writing, how an untested child could obtain a score and join the list. Redbridge’s in-year page says a family moving into the borough makes an in-year application if “you are moving to Redbridge from somewhere else and have school aged children”, and the arrangements add that waiting lists “will cease as at 31 July annually”, with applicants needing to “re-apply during the month of August for continued consideration”. Our guide to joining a grammar school after Year 7 covers the in-year route in general.

Both schools also admit external students into Year 12. Redbridge’s table of admission numbers for September 2027 lists 40 Year 12 places at Ilford County High and 23 at Woodford County High, and says that where external applicants outnumber places, “applicants will be ranked according to their predicted grades/capped average points scores”. Our guide for families returning to the UK from abroad sets out the picture for other areas.

How does Leading Tuition prepare a child for the Redbridge test from abroad?

Our expert 11+ tutors work with the papers Redbridge names, English and Verbal Reasoning, and Mathematics and Non-Verbal Reasoning, which the council says are provided by GL Assessment. Lessons are one-to-one and delivered entirely online, so preparation can begin before the family’s move and continue once they have arrived.

Each preparation plan is calibrated to the family’s return date and Redbridge’s calendar: the registration window, which closed at 5pm on 15 June 2026 for 2027 entry, the Friday sitting in September and the Common Application Form on 31 October. The child practises each paper under timed conditions. Where a child has not met verbal or non-verbal reasoning at school, the first weeks go on the format itself.

What we do not do matters as much. We do not apply on a family’s behalf, decide which address Redbridge accepts or advise on visas; Redbridge’s Admissions Office and the government guidance linked above are the places for those answers. A free consultation covers the child’s current level, the family’s return date and the Redbridge calendar. Our hub for families applying from abroad sits beside our 11+ preparation pages.

Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read on 3 October 2026, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.

Frequently asked questions about the Redbridge 11+ from abroad

Reviewed 3 October 2026 against Redbridge Council’s 11 plus page, its determined admission arrangements for 2027-28, its allocation notice and test statistics, the admissions pages of Woodford County High School and Ilford County High School, and the Department for Education guidance on applications from overseas. DfE guidance | Ilford County High School admissions | Woodford County High School admissions